"It's an honor to be your friend" - Former rival thanks John Cena ahead of his return on WWE RAW

John Cena is set to make his triumphant return to WWE on tonight's RAW in Laredo, Texas.

He will be celebrating his 20th anniversary with the company and it will be his first WWE TV appearance since last summer. Cena has had some legendary rivalries over the years and his feud with Randy Orton is right up there at the top.

The injured Superstar posted a video on social media today, just a couple of hours before RAW went on the air. Randy Orton noted that he's known John for over 20 years, but said it feels like only yesterday they were learning the ropes down in OVW.

Orton then spoke about his past matches with Cena and how he chose to live by the words "hustle, loyalty, and respect". Orton also thanked the 16-time champion for everything he has taught him.

"It was an honor to be your opponent, so many times, but even more of an honor to be your friend. Hustle, loyalty, and respect, those aren't just three words, those aren't just a gimmick. You chose to live by those three words, you didn't just put those words on a different colored t-shirt every other week. You chose to live that way and it was motivating to watch," said Orton. (00:22 - 00:48)

The rivalry between Randy Orton and John Cena is historic

Orton and Cena's rivalry goes all the way back to 2007. Randy attacked Cena on the July 23, 2007 episode of RAW and the two would battle at SummerSlam. John emerged victorious, but things got personal when Randy attacked Cena's father at ringside during the August 27, 2007 episode of RAW.

Cena lost control during their title match at Unforgiven and was disqualified after he refused to stop punching Orton. Throughout the years, Randy Orton and John Cena have battled 20 times, with Cena winning 13 of those matches. WWE released a Top 10 video of John's greatest rivals and Orton ranked in at number one.

Orton isn't the only WWE legend to praise John Cena upon his return to the promotion. Kurt Angle recently called Cena the most successul WWE superstar of all time. The WWE Hall of Famer's comments can be read here.